Field and Stack Field - and the descriptive - Thistly Field, Round Mead, Long Mead and
Horselease - to the obscure - Staple Downe and Guslease, while two are named after the
woods that adjoin them - Box and Apisfield - the latter later renamed Well Wood. Field
names, like those of woods, seldom stand the test of time, being renamed or modified as
the old ones lose their meaning or change their function. Those at Handley Barns have
fared better than most. On a map of 1819 Barn Field, Stack Field and Gus(t)lease are all
still there; Apisfield Wood has had its name changed but the field alongside retains the
old meaning, while Boxoll Field has simply been shortened, like the wood, to Box Field.
Staple Downe has been replaced by the bland Great Ley (an alternative name in 1601),
Long Mead has merged with an unnamed neighbour to become Great Mead, Round
Mead has changed to Little Gustleys, Thistly Field is now a Stony Field, and Horselease
is Astleys, which may be a derivative of its predecessor. Farmers have presumably
continued to give their fields names up to the present day but there is little record of it;
such names have no place on the Ingatestone tithe maps of 1839 and in a sale catalogue
of 1936, when the Petres sold Handley Barns, they have been de-personalized to the
numbers found on the ordnance survey map. Sad.
The boundaries of the original farm have remained unchanged since 1600 although the
acreage devoted to arable/pasture, meadow and even woodland has obviously varied
greatly over the years. An increase in woodland and hedgerow between 1600 and 1779
was offset by a corresponding loss between 1839 and 1876 - a period of improving
agricultural fortunes - but miraculously both have been left almost untouched by the
ravages of the post-war agricultural revolution and the Handley Barns of 2000 is
essentially the Handley Barns of 1600 and, quite possibly, the Handley Bams of 1066.
It is that which makes it such a special place.
Cattle continued to be farmed there until the 1960s, after which it was turned over to
arabic. In the 1980s it changed hands and a large lake was constructed, stretching all the
way from the farmhouse to the boundary with Dawes Farm. Jet skiers leased it for a
while, their penchant for 'living in the fast lane' unfortunately extending to the narrow
road leading to the farm! It is now a private fishery, a further six ponds having been built
to complement the lake. There are some big fish in there - very big fish; a catfish was
recently witnessed swallowing a drake Mallard! During construction work they dug
down into a thick layer of chalky loess and the following spring the bare mud was
colonised by an impressive array of arable weeds, some of which - Broad-leaved Spurge,
Round and Sharp-leaved Fluellens, Small Toadflax, Fumitory, Dwarf Spurge and Stinking
Chamomile among them - I had rarely, if ever, encountered before on the neutral to
mildly acidic soils elsewhere in the parish. The annuals were followed by perennials,
some planted - we live in an impatient age - some natural. Bee Orchids appeared. Also
Grass Vetchling and Yellow-wort; plants of chalky boulder clay. And in a seepage area
close to the main lake, Blunt-flowered Rush. The margins and shallows gradually filled
up with water plants and weeds; again, some exotic, some native. As the vegetation
expanded survival rates among the broods of wildfowl improved, the reeds offering
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 59, May 2009
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